December was exceptionally wet across the Upper Colorado Basin, especially in the Gunnison and Dolores basins where several individual precipitation stations received more than 300% of average for the month.

The 2008 water year started with above average precipitation for October, but then November was just 30% of average. December made up for that with 170% of average precipitation for the month, leaving both the seasonal precipitation and snow water equivalent near normal as of January 1. The April through July streamflow forecasts now range between 85% and 105% of average.

Precipitation in the Gunnison Basin for October was 86% of average. It was then a dry November with the basin receiving 28% of the monthly average. However, in December the basin received 215% of the monthly average precipitation allowing the seasonal average precipitation for the beginning of January to climb back to 116%. Streamflow forecasts for April through July currently range between 105% and 120% of average.

It was a slow beginning to the 2008 water year in the Dolores Basin. In October the basin saw 66% of the monthly average precipitation and in November just 29%. December more than made up for the light precipitation in October and November with the basin receiving 260% of the December monthly average. This has brought the basin back above average precipitation for the season to 112% of the seasonal average as of January 1. Streamflow forecasts for April through July currently range between 110% and 115% of average.

Differences between the full period forecasts and the residual forecasts may not exactly equal the actual observed volumes due to rounding conventions (see Definitions section).